KPMG: China, Brazil and Singapore Lead Consumption of Digital Media

By Rob Starr, Content Manager, Big4.com

According to the KPMG International 2013 Digital Debate Urban consumers in China, Brazil and Singapore are proving to be the world’s most voracious users of digital media, powered by the rapid uptake of smartphones and tablets.

“Consumers in China, Brazil and Singapore across all age groups are accessing and using media at an astonishing pace,” says Gary Matuszak, KPMG’s Global Chair, Technology, Media and Telecommunications. “They are quick to acquire hand-held mobile devices, and are incredibly receptive to all forms of information, news and entertainment from TV, internet, newspapers, magazines and radio.”

Moreover, consumers from China, Brazil and Singapore not only prefer to access their content digitally, they are more willing to pay for it. Mobile-centric consumers’ propensity to pay for content may provide invaluable insights to media and tech providers in mastering breakthrough revenue models.

“In emerging, high-growth markets such as China, people are not encumbered with the legacy of PCs and have leap-frogged straight onto portable devices,” observed David Elms, Head of Media for KPMG in the UK. “This creates amazing opportunities for tech and media companies, many of which are struggling to devise models that are profitable and which truly sate consumers’ vast needs for information. They need to delve into understanding content much more intimately as it relates to their customers and then, marry the two.”

Accessing these multiple devices concurrently appears to impact advertising effectiveness — but not everywhere, according to the KPMG survey. Urban consumers in Brazil, China and Singapore have the highest receptivity to advertising and accept that it can underwrite the cost of the content they enjoy. Seventy-seven percent of Chinese consumers and 62 percent of Brazilian consumers are happy to receive online ads in return for lower-priced or free services.